Tuesday, April 7, 2009 - The Daily Cardinal by The Daily Cardinal

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THE CARDINAL INVESTIGATES... MADISON PROPERTY MANAGEMENT An in-depth look into MPM’s security deposit practices By Ryan Hebel THE DAILY CARDINAL

There is nothing “normal” about house dust. Just ask Madison Property Management. That is what UW-Madison graduate Elizabeth Gokey discovered in August when MPM withheld $175 from her security deposit for ﬁve hours of “cleaning.” Gokey, who works at Madison’s Tenant Resource Center, asked to see what MPM had cleaned at her Jenifer

Street apartment, since she knew a recent city ordinance required landlords to document security deposit deductions for cleaning. MPM sent her more than 40 photos. However, Gokey said most of the cleaning depicted was for “normal wear and tear,” an illegal deduction under another city ordinance. Gokey was especially upset to see photos depicting dust, peeling paint and dirt under her refrigerator. Several of the photos, she added, were blurry or indecipherable, and others, including one of a bucket under her kitchen sink full of water from a leaking pipe, “showed more that the apartment was crappy than that I had not cleaned.”

(A slideshow of photos from MPM is available at dailycardinal.com.) Gokey is not alone. A monthlong investigation into dozens of tenant complaints and the policies of three prominent property management companies in the campus area—MPM, Apex Property Management and Steve Brown Apartments— revealed several disturbing trends. Of the 28 tenant complaints collected during the investigation, 18 were directed against MPM, three against Apex and a total of seven against Anchor Property Management, Wisconsin Management Company, Ripple Management and JSM Properties. The most common accusations dealt with negligent, predatory or even illegal policies toward security deposits, late-fee accounting or maintenance issues. Complaints came from the Department of Consumer Protection, Dane County Small Claims Court and interviews with members of two anti-MPM Facebook groups. No similar Facebook groups were found criticizing Madison’s other property agencies. However, among the three agencies investigated, only MPM was found with strong evidence of security deposit policy violations, problematic accounting practices and neglected maintenance issues.

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Tips for tenants Always take pictures of any damaged conditions or let uninvolved witnesses see them for future reference. If your landlord takes money from your security deposit, you have the right to see a cost breakdown including what was cleaned, how many hours it took and how much the cleaners were paid. Landlords are now obligated to photograph all damages they subtract from deposits and must show tenants these photos upon request and let them know they are available. Security deposits in Madison cannot exceed the ﬁrst month’s rent. It is illegal for landlords to charge tenants for anything included in the “normal wear and tear.” Carpetcleaning fees, for example, should not be taken out of your deposit unless there are major stains or other damage.

Shifting costs According to Wisconsin Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jim Rabbitt, Gokey’s story reﬂects a larger problem among some property managers today. “One of the things you see in the industry ... is that [landlords] are shifting a lot of their costs mpm page 3

Candidates vie for Supreme Court seat Moderate voter turnout expected in statewide race By Caitlin Gath THE DAILY CARDINAL

After months of campaigning, Wisconsin Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick will face off in the state Supreme Court election Tuesday. According to Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy, however, voter turnout will likely only be moderate.

“For past contested Supreme Court races, voters came out to vote at a rate of 20 percent, and we expect a 20 percent turnout this coming Tuesday,” he said in a statement. Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, agreed with Kennedy when he said turnout in the spring elections has been disappointing for years. “A very small minority of voters decide some pretty important elections,” he said. “They decide who sits in some pretty important offices, and the majority of voters don’t have a say.” court page 4

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH A monthlong series focused on sexual violence in America and on the UW-Madison campus in an effort to dispel myths and educate students, including weekly feature articles and daily facts.

Experts debunk sexual assault By Kelsey Gunderson THE DAILY CARDINAL

Nearly 25 percent of women in the United States experience sexual assault at some point in their lives, but most of these women may not know they are victims of a heinous crime. Several UW-Madison sexual assault experts work on a daily basis to educate students about the reality of the crime and how to debunk common misconceptions. “As much as people think— they want to think—that rape is a rare thing, the reality is it … isn’t even close to being rare,” said Kelly Anderson, director of the Dane County Rape Crisis Center. Anderson said many people believe rape is rare because it is drastically underreported. Katie Simons, media chair for Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, a student organization that promotes sexual assault education, said victims are usually hesitant to report the crime because the perpetrator is almost always someone they know. “We have this idea about this person in the bushes who is going to jump out and rape somebody,” she said. “But in reality, based on statistics, they are really people we interact with on a daily basis, an intimate partner or a friend.” Confusion over sexual assault

laws can compound problems with reporting. “One of the most common calls we get to our center is people saying, ‘I’m not sure if I am calling the right place, I’m not sure if what happened to me was rape,’ and what they describe is absolutely rape under Wisconsin statute,” she said. Most people are unaware of the deﬁnition of sexual consent, which is why victims are often unsure if what they endured was rape, according to Simons.

“Consent is a freely given ‘yes’ and not the absence of ‘no.’” Katie Simons media chair Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment

“Consent is a freely given ‘yes’ and not the absence of ‘no,’” she said. “A lot of times when you tell people that, they will be like, ‘Wow, I actually have to hear the consent.’” Although men are commonly viewed as the enemy in sexual assaults, Carmen Hotvedt, student services coordinator at University Health Services, stressed that men, assault page 4

“Justices decide important issues that affect all of us, and everyone wants a justice who’s fair, impartial and independent. Because of low voter turnout, this is a great chance for students to make their voices heard.” ABRAHAMSON

“Students should be interested in electing a justice who will apply the law, not make the law. Justice Abrahamson has centralized too much power in the judicial system, thereby usurping the authority of the legislature. This type of judicial activism essentially steals power from the people when judges substitute their own will for the will of the people.” KOSCHNICK

“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

An independent student newspaper, serving the University of Wisconsin-Madison community since 1892

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Forget cocaine, Smarties are all the rage

Volume 118, Issue 125

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News and Editorial edit@dailycardinal.com Editor in Chief Alex Morrell Managing Editor Gabe Ubatuba Campus Editor Erin Banco Rachel Holzman City Editor State Editor Megan Orear Charles Brace Enterprise Editor Associate News Editor Caitlin Gath Opinion Editors Nick Dmytrenko Jon Spike Arts Editors Kevin Slane Justin Stephani Sports Editors Ben Breiner Crystal Crowns Features Editor Diana Savage Food Editor Sara Barreau Science Editor Bill Andrews Photo Editors Kyle Bursaw Lorenzo Zemella Graphics Editors Amy Gifﬁn Jenny Peek Copy Chiefs Kate Manegold Emma Roller Jake Victor Copy Editors Hope Carmichael Ryan Hebel, Kevin Mack Lydia Statz, Todd Stevens

Business and Advertising business@dailycardinal.com Business Manager Alex Kusters Advertising Manager Sheila Phillips Mindy Cummings Billing Manager Accounts Receivable Manager Cole Wenzel Account Executives Katie Brown Ana Devcic, Natalie Kemp Tom Shield Eric Harris, Dan Hawk Web Directors Marketing Director Heath Bornheimer Archivist Erin Schmidtke The Daily Cardinal is published weekdays and distributed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community with a circulation of 10,000. The Daily Cardinal is a nonproﬁt organization run by its staff members and elected editors. It receives no funds from the university. Operating revenue is generated from advertising and subscription sales. Capital Newspapers, Inc. is the Cardinal’s printer. The Daily Cardinal is printed on recycled paper. The Cardinal is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. All copy, photographs and graphics appearing in The Daily Cardinal are the sole property of the Cardinal and may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor in chief. The Daily Cardinal accepts advertising representing a wide range of views. This acceptance does not imply agreement with the views expressed. The Cardinal reserves the right to reject advertisements judged offensive based on imagery, wording or both. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor in chief. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. Letters Policy: Letters must be typewritten, double-spaced and no longer than 200 words, including contact information. Letters may be sent to letters@dailycardinal.com.

Editorial Board Nick Dmytrenko Dave Heller Alex Morrell Frances Provine Todd Stevens Jon Spike Gabe Ubatuba l

Board of Directors Vince Filak Alex Kusters Mikhail Hanson Nik Hawkins Dave Heller Janet Larson Chris Long Alex Morrell Sheila Phillips Benjamin Sayre Jenny Sereno Terry Shelton Jeff Smoller Jason Stein l

For the record Corrections or clariﬁcations? Call The Daily Cardinal ofﬁce at 608-262-8000 or send an e-mail to edit@dailycardinal.com.

WEDNESDAY: partly cloudy hi 52º / lo 28º

KIERA WIATRAK taking kiera business

n March 20, 2009, the Wall Street Journal printed an article about a new trend among middle-schoolers: smoking Smarties. To imitate smoking, students crush the candy into a fine powder, pour it into their mouths and blow out the dust. The following are confiscated correspondence from kids caught passing notes in Ms. Tayler’s eighth-grade class. Hey biatch! Ok so im like sooo embarrassed. today the popular girls asked me to sit with them at lunch and like i really wanted to becuz kelly so awesome and sed if i hang with her then aaron might forget that i cried a little becuz i missed my mom at the lock-in. so i was like duh im gonna sit with you and then i did and then it was so weirdish becuz at first i thawt they were actually smoking like cigarettes or somting and i was like r

those cigarettes?? and they were like noo theyr smarties uve never done it b4?? and i was like duhhh of course i do it all the time but they knew i was lying!! Luv ya girl! Jess Yo dude, I know I’ve called like eight times already, but dude, I need my ﬁx. I haven’t done smarties since recess and I’m going crazy. I told my parents I was going to see the Hannah Montana movie so they gave me my allowance early so I can pay you $7 instead of $5 but only if you get it to me tonight. I’m losing my mind here. I looked in the pantry when I got home yesterday and tried to smoke some goldﬁsh but it didn’t really work, and now my entire kitchen smells like Cheddar Blasted. Then I met some high school guys on the street and they didn’t have any smarties so bought some crack cocaine from them instead. I still don’t have any smarties. Dude, you gotta help me out. Your very desperate client, Rocco Could u smoke sweet tarts? Is it

the same as smarties? I kno it’s sort of childish but everyone does it in 8th grade so I’ve been doing it (i am in the 8th grade around 15) well anyways could u smoke sweet tarts? Is it the same thing? Can i get sick smocking it to? (i have been coughing wiered lately) (I don’t spell good) (Posted on answers.yahoo.com) Ummm, no it’s not the same as smarties! Only the nerds and the geeks smoke sweetarts because, idk they like want to make sure people know they’re “non-conformists” or whatever. I once even saw Chad Burns smoking sweetarts behind the dumpster at recess. Eeuww. Would you ever want to be like Chad Burns? Didn’t think so. Disgusting. So yah, don’t smoke sweetarts if you like ever want to have friends again. Janice <3 <3 Melissa’s Prices <3 <3 Smarties- $5/pack or .75/hit Sweet Tarts- samesies Goldﬁsh- Call Rocco, his mom always buys them in bulk Reeses- $8 there’s no wrong way to smoke a Reeses haha jk lol!

Yo yo wazzup? Jordan’s price list yo Smarties- $6.50 yah that’s right. I got the good stuff. Melissa’s mom shops at Copps but my mom goes Organic yo. Sweet Tarts- $4 only cuz i feel bad for u yo cuz only lozers smoke tarts yo smarties where it at. Weed- $3/ounce. Waddis this stuff? Anyone kno? I found it in Rocco’s basement and my bro said I should sell it. Hey Kelly babe! Can u believe Jess actually sat with us at lunch today? I totally think we should’ve all got up and left as soon as she pulled out that nasty tuna sandwich. How funny would that have been?!? And omg did you see her face when we all started smoking? Are those cigarettes?!? HAHAHAHA. But yah, Jess is having a huge sleepover this weekend and her mom’s buying smarties. Wanna go? Maybe we can get Rocco and Jordan to stop by. I heard Rocco once did Goldﬁsh with a sophomore in high school!!! He is sooo cool. If you’ve got any Smarties, e-mail Kiera at wiatrak@wisc.edu and meet her behind the dumpster.

ASK THE DEER CARDINAL Life is hard. The Deer Cardinal is here to help.

Deer Cardinal, I’m trying to decide if I should stay in Madison this summer or go home to work. Any thoughts? —Maggie T. Monamuloola Maggie, Have you ever heard of Iceland? Before Iceland turned into an island full of bankrupt former-ﬁshermen with worthless currency and a shattered economy, it was the rock a bit north of Britain whose frigidsounding name sent prospective immigrants packing for Greenland, a barren stretch of land covered entirely by ice and Eskimos, leaving Iceland’s residents to enjoy the isle’s unspoiled stunning beauty and surprisingly mild climate. That said, for those who have never experienced a summer in Madison, you probably wonder why

in the hell humans settled this isthmus anyway. For the entire school year, it seems, snow and icy winds whip down University Avenue and life transpires almost completely indoors or on Facebook. If you’re wondering if all this ever changes come summertime, if leaves ever return to the trees and green grass covers the earth, if the lilacs ever blossom, ﬁlling the air with their sweet scent and the lake water warms, providing the perfect respite on a hot summer night, if the weather is ever such that you walk out in it in the morning thankful to be paying rent to live in such a place, well, it doesn’t. It pretty much snows right on through August until fall comes in time for football. I’d go home, make some money at a good job your uncle can get for you and hang out with your high school buddies.

Deer Cardinal, I’ve read about some plans to curb the ability of chronic problem drinkers to buy alcohol by prohibiting the sale of small amounts of beer in liquor stores. Is this going to work? —James B. James, Let us use an example. Joe is a typical Madison student: he is homeless, has no money, and spends his time between classes begging for money on State Street and masturbating in front of sororities. As soon as Joe gets enough donations he runs to blow the wad on single beers at a liquor store. Now, in an attempt to prevent Joe from getting drunk and bothering Madison residents, the city has passed a law preventing him from

buying single beers. At ﬁrst Joe is stymied, but he quickly realizes if he saves he can still buy beer, and if he buys more at a time, he gets even more for his money! Now instead of getting one beer every hour or two he starts buying 30 at a time! Now Joe can get really wasted once a week instead of slightly buzzed all the time. “Thanks, Madison!” says Joe, “now I can support my alcoholism at a lower per beer price!” Got a question for the Deer Cardinal? E-mail page2@dailycardinal.com.

news

Sexual Assault Awareness Month Fact of the Day: Twenty-eight percent of rapists are an intimate partner.

mpm from page 1 which used to just be part of rent,” Rabbitt said. Increasing security deposit deductions, he added, has become one popular tactic for keeping rents low. Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, said some landlords are especially predatory in the campus area because students are often uninformed or too busy with schoolwork to explore legal options. “I’ve had landlords in the past tell me, ‘You know, if I take $100 out of everyone’s security deposit, one out of 10’s going to complain, and then I just give them their money back,” Konkel said, though she could not recall who had made the statement. Complaints target MPM Konkel, who also directs the Tenant Resource Center, said she handles about 10,000 complaints each year but does not record the number of complaints per landlord. Nevertheless, she said MPM, which rents to between 2,000 and 3,000 students in the campus area, has a reputation as one of Madison’s most criticized property agencies. According to Konkel, the Bureau of Consumer Protection was “particularly concerned about Madison Property Management” in the fall and asked the resource center to direct its MPM complaints directly to the bureau. “It’s unusual that we would’ve had contact with [Consumer Protection] in the first place,” Konkel said. Bureau of Consumer Protection officials would not say whether the organization was investigating MPM, citing confidentiality.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 Photo ordinance follies Gokey’s problems went beyond MPM’s contentious interpretations of “normal wear and tear,” though. “[MPM] never informed me in the ﬁrst place that I could request pictures,” Gokey said. Gokey said she contacted an attorney, who let MPM off with a warning because no similar complaints had been made and the ordinance was only ﬁve months old. Gokey said she was not surprised by MPM’s violation. “They care more about getting money than they do about their tenants. They have their reputation of being a bad landlord for a reason,” Gokey said.

“[MPM] never informed me in the ﬁrst place that I could request pictures.” Elizabeth Gokey former MPM tenant

According to MPM attorney Rachel Govin, the violation was a rare error, since MPM had been using sticker notiﬁcations at the time and must have forgotten to attach one to Gokey’s security deposit receipt. However, UW-Madison senior Josh Thornton said he and his roommates had a similar experience with MPM in August. According to Thornton, MPM deducted $210 from his security deposit to clean his Breese Terrace apartment for six hours. Like with Gokey, no photo ordinance notiﬁcation appeared on Thornton’s receipt. Thornton was

unaware of the ordinance until recently, but will not pursue legal action since his roommates left behind a broken window. However, the window is only briefly noted on the cleaning checklist MPM provided Thornton, and no damages were referenced on his official list of security deposit deductions, violating a city ordinance. Govin said MPM “would not dispute that a mistake was made.” In May 2008, MPM did notify Madison resident Michelle Williams of her right to see photos of her security deposit deductions. However, the notification appeared in nearly illegible fine print on a copy of the receipt obtained from the Bureau of Consumer Protection. The notification also appeared to be typed onto the receipt, though Govin said MPM was using sticker notifications at the time. Konkel said the Tenant Resource Center has not heard complaints against other landlord agencies for violating the photo ordinance. She said a new amendment is being proposed to regulate font size for photo ordinance notification, though MPM said it now uses a larger stamp to display the ordinance. The investigation did not find similar photo ordinance problems at other Madison agencies. Both Steve Brown Apartments and Apex Property Management fully endorsed the ordinance last year. “The photo ordinance, to me, is just good management,” Steve Brown Apartments Community Manager Dan Seeley said. Seeley said Steve Brown Apartments, which rents to approximately 2,000 tenants in the downtown area, documents each house it cleans with digital video. Individual photos,

Seeley said, cannot put tenant damages in their proper context and could easily be manipulated. Apex owner Brian Bosben, who rents approximately 150 units near campus, produced security deposit receipts listing the ordinance’s notiﬁcation in bold, readable font. But Apex and SBA are hardly the minority. Ald. Eli Judge, District 8, who sponsored the photo ordinance, said MPM was the only large agency in Madison not to fully endorse the April 2008 measure. “Madison Property Management did not care much for the ordinance ... There were some concerns about the costs of implementing policies,” Judge said.

“Madison Property Management did not care much for the [photo] ordinance.” Eli Judge alder District 8

MPM President James Stopple said he didn’t “throw any stones at the ordinance ... but it cost a huge amount of overhead.” However, Judge said landlords will also profit in the long run from the ordinance, since it will save them money from potential legal challenges. Normalizing ‘normal’ Gokey’s familiarity with tenant rights helped her catch MPM’s photo ordinance violation, and unsatisﬁed with the photos MPM produced, she took action. MPM eventually reim-

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bursed Gokey’s full deposit, but only after she threatened to seek triple damages through small claims court. According to Nancy Jensen, executive director of the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin, excessive security deposit deductions like Gokey’s are a problem mainly with students. In a recent e-mail, however, Govin supported MPM’s decision to charge Gokey and said the cleaning deductions were “beyond the normal wear and tear.” According to Stopple, problems arise because everyone has their own definition of “normal,” including the Tenant Resource Center. “They have an agenda,” Stopple said. “They don’t think there should be any cleaning charges, period. And that’s not true ... Their idea of ‘normal wear and tear’ is a hugely different interpretation than mine.” Stopple added that if tenants realize they won’t be charged for anything, they will be more likely to neglect their apartments. Bosben agreed the “wear and tear” concept is unclear. Still, after examining Apex’s security deposit receipts from last August, Bosben said he “could hardly find a deduction other than unpaid rent.” Seeley, likewise, said Steve Brown Apartments tends to give the benefit of the doubt to renters. Jensen said she wants a standard established for cleaning fees by the August 2009 turnover to distinguish reasonable and unreasonable deductions. Check out Wednesday’s paper for the second part of our landlord investigation, which takes a closer look at the accounting and maintenance practices in the UW-Madison campus rental industry.

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Every vote counts in today’s city elections Today’s elections will determine Madison’s District 2 alder, District 8 alder and Dane County executive after a long campaign season. The candidates for District 8 alder are UW-Madison students Bryon Eagon and Mark Woulf. In District 2, Brenda Konkel and Bridget Maniaci are up for position. Kathleen Falk will talk on Nancy Mistele in the county executive race. Students can register to vote at the polls. Those who register or change their address at the polls must present proof of residence or have a witness from the same municipality sign for them. If you live in Adams, Barnard, Chadbourne, Elizabeth Waters, Slichter, or Tripp Hall you may vote at Memorial Union in Tripp Commons on the second ﬂoor.

THE DAILY CARDINAL

A new study published by the UW-Madison Law School says criticism of the number of civil litigation cases in Wisconsin is unfounded despite claims from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobby. The report attempts to debunk “persistent myths” about civil courts and presents facts about the number of cases filed in state and federal courts from 1996 through 2007. According to the report, tort filings, which provide compensatory damages for harm done to a party’s person or property, decreased by 24.1 percent with respect to population between 1996 and 2007. “I get a sense that the report is suggesting that we have overreacted to the series of Supreme Court decisions earlier in the decade,” John Metcalf, director of human resources policy at WMC, said. Although the total number of civil findings in Wisconsin state and federal courts increased by 34.2 percent between 1996 and 2007, 60.9 percent of these claims were related to small claims suits or debt claims. Critics of Wisconsin’s civil jus-

tice system, such as WMC, have said the number of civil suits in Wisconsin has driven valuable businesses out of Wisconsin, according to the report. “The less certainty that there is in the marketplace, the riskier it is to do business in a jurisdiction that has rules that aren’t as clear,” Metcalf said in reference to Wisconsin’s “unique” liability laws. Howard Schweber, a UWMadison associate professor of political science, said WMC has made a “big deal” about excessive litigation practices before the last two judicial election cycles. “Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is using tort reform and crime as hot-button social issues, ways of painting someone as a liberal in the hope of appealing to voters who are self-described as conservative,” he said. Amid criticism that Wisconsin has a high number of trial lawyers, the report said Wisconsin is second only to Iowa among nearby states, including Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa, in number of trial lawyers per capita. “I tend to think that the law school survey has it right. I have not seen any evidence that excessive litigation is a serious problem in Wisconsin,” Schweber said.

UW-Madison named bike-friendly campus A prominent bicycle association named UW-Madison a bicycle-friendly campus Monday. The university was named a silver award winner in the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Business program. The League of American Bicyclists, which was founded in 1880, is an organization representing the interests of over 57 million bikers while abiding by its mission statement, “to promote bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation and work through advocacy and education for a bicycle-friendly America.” “We’re gratified by this national recognition of our efforts to

Signal ladies

If you reside in Bradley, Cole, Humphrey, Jorns, Kronshage or Sullivan Hall you can vote at Holt Commons in the lower-level cafeteria. If you live in Sellery or Witte halls, you can vote at Gordon Commons. Ogg and Smith Hall residents can vote at the Madison Metropolitan School District’s Doyle Administration Building, 545 W. Dayton St. Residents of Eagle Heights and University Houses can vote at the Eagle Heights Community Center. If you live off-campus, visit cityofmadison.com/election/voter/ Where.cfm and type in your address to find your polling location. For more details on voter registration and polling places, visit cityofmadison.com/election or call (608) 266-4601.

Law School report rebuts WMC claims of excessive civil suits By Hannah Furfaro

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encourage bicycling and make it an attractive commuting option for everyone at the university,” Patrick Kass, director of Transportation Services, said in a statement. According to university officials, bicycling is one of the strongest components of the UW Commuter Solutions, a program working to provide innovative transportation solutions. The program is one of many efforts made by the university to offer students and community members pedestrian paths and routes. The Campus Drive Pedestrian and Bicycle Path was recently completed with solarpowered lighting.

CHARLIE BAKER/THE DAILY CARDINAL

Amber Kelly and George Zerante perform as part of “Sex Signals” in Ogg Hall Monday night. The program uses improvisational comedy to educate audiences on issues like sex, rape and consent.

Doyle pushes for 2016 Chicago Olympics, Madison cycling By Cathy Martin THE DAILY CARDINAL

Gov. Jim Doyle showed his support for Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid before the International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission Monday. If Chicago were selected, Wisconsin would be the host of the cycling events and the UWMadison campus would act as the starting point for the road cycling course. The mountain bike course would be held at the Tyrol Basin Ski and Snowboard Area in Mount Horeb, Wis. Hosting the course would be “an incredibly exciting opportunity for us in Wisconsin as a great bicycling state,” Doyle said in a conference call.

assault from page 1 too, can be victims of sexual assault. “I think we have a lot of cultural denial about male-to-male— we assume all male-to-male sexual contact has something to do with being gay, and that’s not always the case,” she said. “I think in the next few years we are going to see male victims come forward.” According to Hotvedt, a major step in ending sexual assault is having a more positive attitude. She said promoting healthy relationships as well as educating students can go a long way toward eliminating many sexual assault

court from page 1 Heather Colburn, campaign manager for Abrahamson, encouraged students to get out and vote, saying they have a chance to make an even bigger difference by standing up and being heard. In 2007 and 2008, special interest hijacking took hold of the state

According to him, the U.S. Olympic Committee selected Wisconsin for the bike course because it has a great racing culture, a large bicycle industry and some of the best trails in the country. Doyle also said the commission seemed impressed with Wisconsin’s athletic training facilities, housing accommodations and other infrastructure, as well as the scenic beauty and difficulty of the courses. The Chicago Summer Games would benefit the state by bringing tourism, according to Doyle. “The first hurdle here is whether Chicago is selected,” Doyle said. “But if it is, I think we have to have a very effective tourism effort as we approach 2016.”

Doyle said the distance from Chicago to Madison is not an issue, citing the much greater distance of Beijing to events hosted in Hong Kong during the 2008 Olympics. However, to improve transportation in the area, Doyle said the committee is interested in a high-speed rail system that would connect Chicago, Madison and the Twin Cities. “We’re pushing forward very hard on this, and we hope that as part of the stimulus package, the United States Department of Transportation [will] move forward on our application [for a rail system],” he said. Doyle said he hopes the committee will make its Olympic choice by fall 2009.

misconceptions and ultimately reducing the number of occurrences on campus. According to Anderson, as a result of the misconceptions, rape is commonly underreported and victims have a hard time coming forward with their stories. They want “to pretend it never happened.” “That denial I think is one of the most tragic parts of it, because the window starts to close in terms of being able to get treatment,” Anderson said. “Also, the longer it takes for a victim to report, the more likely law enforcement will be to doubt them.”

Many victims of sexual assault do not report the crime because they fear they will receive a citation if they had been drinking illegally. However, Kevin Helmkamp, assistant dean of students, said his office does not punish students if they endure a sexual assault while drinking. Anderson said a woman who comes forward with her story should be perceived as a hero and not just a girl lying to get someone else in trouble. “It’s not that false reports don’t happen,” she said. “It’s that underreports are by far the bigger issue.”

Supreme Court races, with millions of dollars spent and still only a 15 to 20 percent voter turnout, according to McCabe. “They probably turn off quite a few voters, and people stay home because they’re sick of the politics and negative advertising,” he said. “I just think people haven’t seen contests that have really captured their imagination.”

McCabe emphasized the need for a vigorous competition of ideas and more than one candidate who has the ability to get the message out there. “I think that screams out for the need of signiﬁcant reform for the way we hold elections in Supreme Court,” he said. “I think the legislature needs to ﬁx what is an obvious broken system.”

arts

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Music blogs serve no purpose DALE MUNDT croco-dale rock

PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Although 2004’s remake of “The Manchurian Candidate” did not live up to the lofty expectations of the original 1962 ﬁlm, it still successfully created a modern election paranoia ﬁlm for a new generation.

Vote for these five films The Cardinal examines five “Get out the Vote” movies in honor of today’s elections By Kevin Slane THE DAILY CARDINAL

It seems like every day is a day for politics here in Madison. Whether there’s a ballot initiative by ASM, or the election of the ninth circuit associate judicial review representative for the 45th precinct, we have a lot going on. But today’s elections arguably carry more weight as Bryon Eagon and Mark Woulf square off in District 8, while Bridget Maniaci faces Brenda Konkel in District 2. As important as they may be, students are not the most reliable voters. So to get people in the mood, here are five of the best films to fire up that Madisonian activism and get out the vote, cookies or no cookies. 1. “Election” Alexander Payne’s dark comedy is about a teacher (Matthew Broderick) attempting to suppress overachieving goodie-two-shoes candidate Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon in arguably her best performance) by convincing a popular but simpleminded football player (Chris Klein) to run for class president. “Election” strikes the perfect balance between reality and insanity, as Witherspoon and Broderick go to absurd lengths to foil each other, all while Klein looks on clueless.

2.“The Manchurian Candidate” Although both versions of the movie bring a sense of eerie election paranoia, the 1962 version stands the test of time. An exsoldier is brainwashed by a communist group to assassinate a presidential candidate. Featuring great performances from Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, this candidate is not the kind Madison would want to elect.

The pairing of director Frank Capra with actor Jimmy Stewart is one of the best American cinema has ever known.

3. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” The pairing of director Frank Capra with actor Jimmy Stewart is one of the best American cinema has ever known. Stewart plays a blue-collar average Joe who after being elected to the Senate, becomes a catalyst for change. “Mr. Smith” is everything “The Manchurian Candidate” isn’t: It

gives America hope that an honest, hardworking everyman can bring justice and reason to the bureaucracy of government. 4. “Wag the Dog” Although the premise of “Wag the Dog” was once considered over the top, today it stands as an easily relatable film in a scandal-ridden era. To cover up a sex scandal, a candidate’s advisor (Robert De Niro) concocts a military conflict to draw the media’s attention. Soon after this 1997 film came the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, and after that came the series of wars run by the Bush administration. Sound unrealistic now? 5. “Black Sheep” Candidates often must have a bevy of well-placed advisors and photogenic and personable family members to help them in their candidacy. This is not the case for Al Donnelly and his dumb brother Mike (Chris Farley). Try as Mike may, he loses more votes than he wins for Al’s campaign, even with someone assigned specifically to keep him in check (David Spade). This classic Farley-Spade comedy may be light on the politics and heavy on the physical comedy, but it’s still worth checking out.

recently stumbled across a music blog called “The In Sound from Way Out.” While, at first blush, it doesn’t appear to be radically different from any other music blog, the “About” section got me thinking. “The In Sound” is “EMI Australia’s official music and mp3 blog.” The “About” section continues, “As far as we can tell, we are the only major label with this level of openness.” Although I wouldn’t call myself an avid reader of music blogs, I try to keep up with a few sites. But I promise you, “The In Sound” will not be one of them. In fact, I think that the idea of an official blog for a major label could not be more ridiculous. I think the idea is ridiculous when you examine music blogs themselves. Blogs serve a specific niche audience. Sometimes this niche is specific to a region or genre, and sometimes the niche is “not Britney Spears.” Within that subculture, the blog serves to provide news, exposure, and multimedia content, but all content is filtered through the specific viewpoint of that niche. The same story reported on blogs that serve different target demographics will inherently be reported in vastly different ways. The question then becomes, why do these blogs gravitate towards very specific cultural niches? The obvious answer is that these groups are

being neglected by all of the traditional music media outlets. I haven’t watched any of the MTV stations lately, but I’m guessing that they aren’t talking about the techno scene in Northern Iowa or specific trends in mathmetal. The reality is that most music blogs exist to do the same type of things as traditional pop culture media, just for a more specific audience. MTV, Rolling Stone, E! or even “Light Rock” radio stations do virtually the same things as your favorite music blog. They provide news and information, they build hype for specific artists, and they preview new material. The difference is that their niche is wider. All of this brings us back to “The In Sound.” Why would a major label want or need a blog, when the entire pop culture media already accomplishes everything their blog could do? Even without blogs, major labels have a commanding presence online when you consider their official websites, websites for the band, MySpace pages and YouTube channels. The only explanation that I can imagine is that “The In Sound” is yet another attempt by the mainstream to tap into the organic nature of nonmainstream music. I may sound like I’m repeating this idea, but I think that the music industry realizes that it has lost something that independent music has. Maybe it’s the grassroots networks of fans, maybe it is the fervent devotion to the music, or maybe it’s some form of artistic purity. But whatever it is, I doubt that starting a blog will help.

comics 6

Yummy. A hippo can open its mouth wide enough to ﬁt a 4-foot tall child inside. dailycardinal.com/comics

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

A Toddler’s Easter Egg Hunt

Today’s Sudoku

Anthro-apology

By Eric Wigdahl wigdahl@wisc.edu

Angel Hair Pasta

By Todd Stevens ststevens@wisc.edu

Sid and Phil

By Alex Lewein alex@sidandphil.com

Solution, tips and computer program available at www.sudoku.com.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. The Daily Code

stoned

a b c d e f g h i

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

“Iurp wkhuh zh pryh rq wr pruh oxeulfdwhg iodfn-fdwfkhuv, vshflilfdoob, edqdqdv. Vwhs rqh: Shho wkh edqdqd. Vwhs wzr: Vols wkh shho ryhu brxu Udqgb Mrkqvrq dqg vwduw slwfklqj.” Quote from Weeds Yesterday’s Code:

“I was averaging five grams a day, maybe more. I snorted ten grams in ten minutes once. I guess I had a high tolerance.”

Today’s Crossword Puzzle

The Graph Giraffe

Evil Bird

By Yosef Lerner ilerner@wisc.edu

By Caitlin Kirihara kirihara@wisc.edu

Answer key available at www.dailycardinal.com I GET AROUND

1 5 9 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 24 25 27 30 35 38 39 40 43 44 46 48 51 52 56 59 60

ACROSS

___ mater “Take a number” site General ideas Omen interpreter Thing on a list To-the-max preﬁx Sci-ﬁ vessel Attract the lifeguard, perhaps Paragon of slipperiness Pronoun for a destroyer Munchkin Eggs in water? No-tell motel visit About 57 degrees, mathematically Western transport Like some famous fables Military blockade Small area of ground Novelist Walker Natural depression Put on cloud nine Moved to the middle Commuter’s option Self-promoter Symbols of silliness Historic period Mischievous child Super-impress

62 63 65 68 69 70 71 72

School liaison org. A long, backless sofa Slow-moving craft Frosting Perched upon Farm unit Assays Display, as a dean’s list 73 “What happened next ...”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 18 23 26 28 29 31 32 33

DOWN

It can be used for collateral One to be shunned Dry and crumbly Trajectory Signal receiver Heavenly Wahine’s offering Block Belly laughs Peaked Type of power A combo Store window word Prevent legally It participates in cover-ups Certain terrier Ointments for bruises Lack of sophistication By way of Paraphernalia Behold amorously

34 Can’t live without 35 Imitator 36 First name in the Jazz Hall of Fame 37 Stuff in a bar? 41 Mexican coins 42 One-point Scrabble tiles 45 Borders 47 Large Asian feline 49 Male turkey 50 Foundation of broken stones 53 Time to remember 54 Fix your eyes 55 Devoured 56 Make a change for the verse? 57 Chinese staple 58 Latin bird 61 Showed sorrow, in a way 64 Symbol of industry 66 Prime Minister Hirobumi 67 Cave denizen

Frugal Gnome

By Lindsey Heinz and Emily Villwock lheinz@wisc.edu

opinion UW-Madison continues commitment to success dailycardinal.com/opinion

TOM HART opinion columnist

he University of WisconsinMadison continued its pledge to provide students with the opportunity to explore new avenues of learning with three important decisions in the past week. History and Engineering department curricula will be augmented with the addition of several new professorships, while an agreement with Tikrit University in Iraq will expose students to academic resources halfway around the world. During my ﬁve years here in Madison, I have been pleased to see the university’s dedication to continuing its academic success. Whether through the construction of a new facility, the renovation of the observatory or the addition of a controversial course on 9/11, UW-Madison is serious when it comes to academics. If an opportunity presents itself that could serve to enhance the student body’s educational experience, the UW is quick to take action. In 2006, despite a whirlwind of controversy generated by the decision, the university allowed Kevin Barrett to teach a course on Islam. Barrett, who is often labeled a conspiracy theorist, decided to dedicate one week during the semester to the September 11 bombings. The controversy erupted, however, when it was discovered that Barrett planned to lecture

about the U.S. government’s involvement in the event. Even under the pressure of national media syndicates, UW chose to stand by Barrett’s syllabus. An internal probe said, “Although Mr. Barrett presented a variety of viewpoints, he had not discussed his personal opinions in the classroom.” Barrett’s response to an attack by Fox News’ Sean Hannity was indicative of this mindset. “I’m not interested in making students regurgitate anything,” Barrett said. “I’m interested in training people how to use critical thinking skills to look at the evidence in any area and come to their own conclusions.” It is important that we give due credit to UW for its willingness to expose students to a wide variety of viewpoints. Last week, Biddy Martin signed an agreement with Tikrit University officials that opened another educational door for UW students. The Iraqi university serves over 12,000 students in a remote agricultural region 100 miles north of Baghdad. The agreement will benefit UW students as well as our Iraqi counterparts by using videoconferencing to help expose students to broader perspectives and fresh ideas from halfway around the globe. Iraqi universities have suffered recently with the turmoil that followed after the 2003 American invasion. Countless professors have fled the country, and students have limited access to academic materials. This partnership will help strengthen both UW and Tikrit University’s commitment to academic advancement.

The engineering department inked another monumental agreement last week as well. Vestas, the world’s leading producer of windpower technology, signed the longterm agreement with the university in hopes that it will help stimulate technological advancement through research in the ﬁeld. As many as ten undergraduate and graduate students will receive funding to conduct wind technology research within the department. Visiting scholars will also join the program, and new professorships will be created to help study alternative energy methods in the future. The History Department also announced the establishment of the long-awaited Ambrose-Hesseltine chair in American history. UWMadison alumnus Stephen E. Ambrose donated $500,000 in the late 1990s to help establish the professorship in American military history. Major John Hall was hired to ﬁll the post after spending the last few years working for the Future Warfare Division of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command in Virginia. The West Point and UNC-Chapel Hill graduate will help students understand the role of the military in modern society through his courses. Although the agreements set forth in the past week may not have caught the eye of media outlets like the Barrett case did, UW’s commitment to academic advancement remains, and the future looks brighter than ever. Tom Hart is a senior majoring in history. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Dean of L&S endorses new Madison Initiative By Gary Sandefur COLLEGE OF LETTERS AND SCIENCE

The State of Wisconsin built a tremendous resource in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Even when the economy slows — as it has in the past — our education and research continues moving us forward. We’ve pushed the boundaries of discovery and given the state a value worth more than just dollars and cents. However, we’ve faced financial shortfalls for several years with budget restrictions limiting what we can do and preventing us from keeping pace with the costs of higher education. We need to find new ways to provide a world-class education and compete on a national and international playing field. Chancellor Biddy Martin proposed the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates just a few weeks ago. This initiative addresses the threat of an eroding undergraduate experience and increases need-based financial aid. Personally, and as Dean of the College of Letters & Science, I enthusiastically support the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates. This proposal will greatly improve the core education in the University and will ensure that future students continue receiving excellent educations. You may not know this, but L&S teaches more than 80 percent of the first- and second-year student credit hours. Those classes you took in math, chemistry, English, philosophy and political science stem from L&S. L&S also supplies courses for students who major in other schools and colleges. An average student who majors in business or engineering will take more than 45 percent of his or her credits from L&S. Simply put, L&S provides the core of an undergraduate education at Wisconsin. To continue doing so, we must address our highest undergraduate priorities. The Madison Initiative for Undergraduates would do just that. If the proposal is implemented, L&S would be able to do the following: •Increase the capacity of the Economics Department to meet rising student demand for courses and majors. We would hire more faculty and teaching assistantships and offer more faculty-taught large class sections and faculty-taught small class sections. This would tackle an ongoing problem in Econ where full classes close out students. In Economics 302, an average of 200 students are closed out of the class every semester. •Increase the capacity of language instruction — especially in the Spanish Department — by hiring additional faculty, teaching assistants and academic instructional staff. This semester there were more than 350 students that could not be accommodated in Spanish courses. We even added and filled three additional Spanish sections on nearly the last day to add courses this semester. •Meet annual demand in chemistry by hiring additional graduate teaching assistants for some group sections. Currently, demand exceeds capacity by about 300 seats each semester in Introduction to Organic Chemistry. •Increase the number of Freshmen Interest Groups (FIGs)

or Undergraduate Research Scholars (URS). These programs work extremely well — students in FIGs or URS are three times more likely to graduate with a GPA higher than 3.1. They also graduate sooner and are more likely to participate in service activities and take on leadership roles on campus. •Improve academic advising and services. Combined with better course access, this will ensure students get access to courses appropriate for them and in the correct sequences. •Increase the amount of needbased financial aid five-fold, which will support incoming students before department-specific aid is available to them. We have a great university. The Madison Initiative will help maintain that quality in our undergraduate experiences in the College of Letters & Science and throughout the entire university. I fully support it. Gary Sandefur is the Dean of the College of Letters and Science. Please send e-mail responses to gsandefur@ls.admin.wisc.edu.

41.2 mil. Projected amount raised in dollars by 2013 through the proposed Madison Initiative.

20.4 mil. Projected amount allocated for ﬁnancial aid by 2013 through the Madison Initiative.

15 mil. Projected amount allocated for faculty and instructional support in high-demand courses and majors by 2013 through the Madison Initiative.

2.9 mil. Projected amount allocated for counseling, career and academic advising by 2013 through the Madison Initiative.

2.9 mil.

Projected amount allocated for curricular and co-curricular innovations by 2013 through the Madison Initiative

Source: madisoninitiative.wisc.edu

sports 8

dailycardinal.com/sports

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Men’s Tennis

Badgers split weekend Big Ten series

By Emma Condon THE DAILY CARDINAL

After an upsetting 4-3 loss to Northwestern Saturday, the Wisconsin men’s tennis team improved to 3-3 in the Big Ten with a 7-0 shutout victory over Purdue Sunday. The No. 58 Wildcats (3-3 Big Ten, 15-6 overall) pulled out an early lead with two doubles victories for the point. UW sophomore Peter Marrack and freshman Patrick Pohlmann fell ﬁrst at No. 3, 8-5 to Wildcat opponents sophomore Andrew McCarthy and graduate student Alexander Thams before Wisconsin juniors Michael Muskievicz and Luke Rassow-Kantor dropped their match to give Northwestern the edge by only a break at No. 2. Although the point belonged to Northwestern, the No. 15 Wisconsin pair of junior Moritz Baumann and sophomore Marek Michalicka came from behind, winning four straight games to take their own match 8-6. Wisconsin leveled the match quick-

ly in singles play as No. 31 Baumann slid comfortably to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 101 senior Marc Dwyer. At No. 4 and 6 Northwestern claimed Rassow-Kantor and Muskievicz to regain the lead, and Pohlmann added one for Wisconsin with his straight set victory over German countryman freshman Tobias Reitz. Michalicka came through for Wisconsin with a win at No. 2, collecting his ﬁrst set by only mini break 7-6 (5) and then his second outright 6-4 to once again tie the teams at 3-3. The win came down to the result at No. 5, where Marrack won his ﬁrst set 7-5 but Northwestern junior Alex Sanborn overpowered him in the second 6-0. Sanborn persevered in the third with a break to claim the match 6-4 and dismiss the Badgers. Sunday, the Badgers moved on to Purdue and delivered an outstanding performance, handing the Boilermakers (0-5, 6-11) their second shutout of the season.

The Badgers’ assault began in doubles, when Baumann and Michalicka made a powerful statement with an 8-2 victory over junior Slavko Bijelica and senior Griff Nienberg at No. 1. Rassow-Kantor paired once again with Pohlmann to tally the Badgers’ second win and guarantee the 1-0 lead. Purdue, which also lost to Northwestern this weekend, looked to regroup in singles but couldn’t hold off the Badger onslaught. Pohlmann struck ﬁrst with an easy 6-2, 6-1 victory over sophomore Eric Ramos at No. 1, and Baumann followed at No. 1, extending his undefeated campaign to 20-0 with another straight set victory. Michalicka delivered the ﬁnal blow, downing junior Branko Kuzmanovic in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 and securing the Badgers’ win 4-0. Even with the win, the relentless Badgers tallied three additional wins from junior Michael Dierberger, Muskievicz and Marrack. With the win, Wisconsin extended its streak

Women’s Rowing

Varsity boats take third in San Diego By Daniel Lyman THE DAILY CARDINAL

The Wisconsin women’s rowing team earned a pair of impressive third place finishes at the San Diego Crew Classic over the weekend for both the varsity eight and second varsity eight teams. The teams opened the meet with races on Saturday morning with the hopes of qualifying for the finals on Sunday. The varsity eight team, ranked at No. 15, finished their heat in second place, less than two seconds behind Southern California. The run qualified the Badgers for the finals, as they needed to finish in the top three out of the five teams competing. Wisconsin’s second varsity team qualified for their finals, taking the victory in their heat on Saturday. They beat all five of their opponents, including Oregon State, whom the Badgers held off by less than two seconds. After safely qualifying for their respective finals, both Wisconsin teams were prepared for another set of solid races Sunday, and fulfilled that potential. The varsity eight finished third

in their final, falling short to only No. 6 Michigan and fourth-ranked Washington. The Badgers, who finished with a time of 6:47.24, got the best of USC this time around, holding off the fourth-place Trojans by a little more than a second. The second varsity eight boat also finished their final in third place. The team came in with a time of 7:04.71, also finishing behind Washington and Michigan. Head coach Bebe Bryans said she was satisfied with how the team performed in its west coast meet. She said the team’s goal was to come out and execute the game plan better than they had and run an efficient race, and those goals were met in San Diego over the weekend. Wisconsin faced some very competitive opponents at the meet, including many west coast opponents who have had the advantage of getting much more water time through this point of the season. Bryans was pleased with how her team was able to perform well and hold its own against this competition. “There were a lot of west coast teams that we won’t see again until

the national championships, and I think we fared very well against most of them,” Bryans said. “We were very competitive with all of them.” She also felt that there was deﬁnite improvement in the team’s performance from Saturday to Sunday. “It’s a big race, there’s a lot going on, there are a lot of stimulus and a lot of distractions,” Bryans said. “They were able to perform well on Saturday, but I think they were a lot happier with their performance on Sunday just because they were able to focus better.” Given the impressive showing from Big Ten opponent Michigan, Bryans expects a very competitive conference this year. She added that Michigan State, Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio State all had very good teams this season. “All of them have been to the national championships many times and are always competitive,” she said. “It’s going to be good.” The Badgers will have another opportunity to compete against Michigan this upcoming weekend when they race against the Wolverines and Michigan State in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 11.

PHOTO COURTESY UWBADGERS.COM

Despite facing tough competition from within and outside the Big Ten, the Wisconsin women’s rowing team came away from the San Diego Crew Classic with a pair of third-place ﬁnishes.

against the Boilermakers to seven and evened its Big Ten record at 3-3. Next weekend, the Badgers return home to host No. 64 Iowa (3-3, 115) and No. 33 Minnesota (4-2, 15-

5) Saturday and Sunday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Matches start at noon both days. —uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.

ANDREW BERNHAGEN/CARDINAL FILE PHOTO

Junior Moritz Baumann was a key part of the Badgers’ victory as he and sophomore Marek Michalicka defeated Purdue in doubles play.

Packers taking conservative approach during off-season ANDY VAN SISTINE sistine’s chapel

f I may borrow from Garrison Keillor, it has been another quiet off-season in Green Bay, my hometown. Free agency yielded a number of exciting stories across the league, from the big-time pickups in Kansas City to the axing and reclaiming of Terrell Owens. But once again, the Packers remain absent from the headlines while the rest of the league spends time wheeling and dealing. Under general manager Ted Thompson, Green Bay has always laid low during free agency. The team usually only opts to sign a few of its own guys back and bring one or two project backups on board to develop in off-season workouts. This year, however, it seemed as though the Packers might ﬁnally get in on the excitement. Their lack of talent on the defensive line and their punting woes from last season should have instigated some interest in the market. Then they signed Dom Capers as the new defensive coordinator and announced that they would be adopting the 3-4 defensive scheme. But apparently, none of these things was enough for Green Bay to seek free agent pickups beyond the likes of Duke Preston and Anthony Smith, two players who do not stand much of a chance of cracking the starting lineup come September. Once again, the NFL draft will be the Packers’ primary source of fresh talent this year. For those who bleed green and gold, do not be quick to pronounce this season of free agency a failure. One of the changes that seemed to necessitate player acquisition may have made better use of the players currently on Green Bay’s roster. With the new 3-4 defense, the Packers can get more out of their deep and talented linebacking core while rely-

ing less on their weak defensive line. Brady Poppinga, Nick Barnett, A J Hawk, Brandon Chillar, Desmond Bishop and Jason Hunter all showed considerable skill at linebacker last season, and will be vital components in the new scheme. You would have a hard time naming half as many defensive linemen who were as productive, and chances are Aaron Kampman will be moving into the backfield this year. The new defense fits the current personnel. Financially, sitting tight will pay dividends as well. Not signing the big market names frees up more cap room for the abundance of draft picks that will be coming in at the end of April—all nine of them, as it stands. If a draft pick comes out of the gates playing at a high level and you sign him to a modest deal for four or five years, you have yourself a bargain. Josh Sitton, Jermichael Finley and Matt Flynn may pan out to fit that description in the next few years. More salary cap room from a quiet free agency period also means more incentive money to throw at guys who performed well in the previous season who you don’t want to get away, guys like Mike Montgomery, Jarrett Bush and Aaron Rodgers. Drafting talent rather than acquiring it from other teams is better for chemistry, anyway. Though both were available during the offseason, it would be hard to argue that Michael Crabtree would fit in better on any NFL squad than Terrell Owens. Simply put, Crabtree is young and impressionable, while Owens is already set in his ways. It may pan out for the better that the Packers stayed out of the pickup picture. Their needs will be addressed within the month, and it will not cost as much to address them. No news is good news from Green Bay, where all the players are strong, all the prospects are good-looking, and all the fans are above average. Think the Packers should have been more proactive this offseason? E-mail Andy about it at avansistine@wisc.edu